500 Mile March Day 16- Sunday- Lazy Sundays are best Sundays

Well. Not much to say today. I am beat. Sunday is usually a lazy day for me to begin with, I took my dog for an easy jog then I went to the gym and finally looked at a place to live in Guelph for next year.

The time in between such activities was comprised of binge watching the office/playing video games and sitting in my pjs. All in all I thought it was a pretty good day.

The lake was in fine form today- bright blue skies and a warm sun. It was chilly out but the nice weather more than made up for it.

Treadmill runs are a little less painful for the shin because of the lower impact. it felt okay, not great, but I should be good tog et through the rest of the month problem free.. I hope. I'm right on track and I'm not stopping for anything.

TODAY: 16.6

TOTAL: 259.7

500 mile march day 14- Friday (SO ENDETH THE SECOND WEEK OF OUR CHALLENGE)

Two weeks over and done! AND IT FEELS... zzzzz. I am so tired. Like so much so that the thought of doing anything active that I don't have to is sickening.

I was on my feet all day long running around in the store (and you know, running around just in general...) I finally finished merchandising the store... I think that it look pretty swell and that you should all come and visit it. Because I am lonely and working in the same room for 10 hours can get pretty mentally taxing.

Cool panorama of all the work I've done in the store!

Anyway, running was a drag today. I sat my butt on the treadmill for 2 hours to get in about 14 miles, then a quick 5 miler in the evening just to wrap up the second week of this challenge.

Here's a picture of my bird helping eat my cereal because why not? Food is important too.

I may have tweaked my shin a little. I will see how it feels in the next little while but I have a feeling I am not eating enough and have tapped my reserves. Food is important. Never forget that. Nutritionally dense food can make or break a runner. It's time to start practicing what I preach. I am in nutrition after all.

Today: 19 miles

TO DATE: 225.1

500 Mile March Day 9 & 10 recap

I'm falling behind on these posts. I feel awful about that.

Sunday: The time change killed me. I got up, changed into sweat pants (I never wear sweat pants) and then went down into the basement and just watched movies. I went to the gym later in the evening but managed a measly 5 miles. That was it. Ugg. I was so dead. Zombified even.

But on the upside, the COSMOS reboot aired. For those of you out of the loop, Cosmos was a scientific/space program that aired in the 80s and was hosted by the late Dr. Carl Sagan. Dr. Sagan was one of the greatest science advocate in twentieth century. The new series is a n update with better CGI and all of the new information that we've learned in the last 30 or so years. The new show is hosted by the only person who would be even close to filling in for Dr. Sagan- Dr. Neil de Grasse Tyson. Look them up if you want to learn more about them. Cosmos was the highlight of my day. It was beautiful, both in it's scope, the imagery, and the teachings, but also the fact that the premiere aired on 10 fox networks simultaneously. FOX! As in the Fox News corporation! And here it is airing a show about the creation of the universe and our place in the cosmos.

Why am I talking about it in a running blog? Because it is one of the things that I love to think about while I run- our purpose and our place. The beauty we see around us is all from one singular point yet we are living in this exact frame, this snap shot and blink of an eye. Everything around us has only come to be in the last fraction of a second of the last minute of the cosmic calendar. Yet we have the capacity to find enjoyment in this fraction, on a lonely spec of dust; to us it is all we have and know. And running allows me to embrace that sense of awe and wonder- the experience of ourselves.

Needless to say that I nerded out so damn hard the entire hour it was on...

Miles today: 5
TOTAL: 138.3

Day 10: Track Monday!

Monday went a lot better than Sunday. I felt a lot more fresh and the day was pretty awesome. I got to Campus a little bit before 8, went to the indoor track and started to run. I was meeting my friend James there at 8:30 so I had some time to kill before my workout with him so I decided to get into a really decent distance effort as well as the speed we were going to do. So I warmed up, did another 5k tempo (just south of 18minutes), cooled down slightly and then did some ins and outs. An in-and-out is where you are almost tapping the gas pedal for a bit (say, 120m) then coasting at a decent pace for 120m. When James showed up we ended up doing some speedier stuff-

set 1): 200,300,300,100,100- 20-25" between intervals
rest: walk/jog l lap
Set 2): 200,300,300,100,100- 20-25" between intervals
rest: walk/jog 1 lap
Set 3) 100,400,400,100- 20-25" between intervals
Cool down

I hadn't done speed in i don't know how long so it was great. They were decently quick and I felt pretty good at the end. But my poor calves. Indoors and calves do not get along very well. I'm pretty sure there were words said long ago which started some sort of blood feud between the two that has been raging for eons.

I sat around feeling sorry for my calves most of the evening then decided to just get a run over with before bed. a nice 8 miler in the dark.

But it was finally above 0 degrees at night! WHAT? Are we still in Canada?

Today: 17.2 miles
TOTAL: 155.5 miles/500

500 Mile March Day 4 Recap (Snow... whay'd it have to be snow)

DAY 4 in the books!

The morning went well. I woke up early and ran with the pooch. Normally she goes out with my dad, but my dad went down to Whiteface to ski with a friend for a few days so I was on dog duty. She isn't exactly the best running buddy. She likes to stop and sniff a lot. Like every three meters. Then she sprints ahead and stops to sniff until I pass her then she sprints ahead again. She would do this for a while but I don't think she liked that fact that I wasn't going as slow as my dad. He tends to do a half-waddle/shuffle when he runs so I think the pooch thought that she could handle the run. But I could tell she was getting tired because she stopped sprinting ahead and just started to trot beside me looking rather dejected.

This is Peaches. She is wondering why I made her run with me. I told her I liked her company. She wasn't buying it.

We ran just over 7 miles together. She wouldn't look at me when I came home last night though. I think she was still miffed that she couldn't stop to smell all the beautiful yellow snow around the street corners.

Yesterday was also a great day because my New Balance shipment of shoes arrived! I had ordered a pair of RC1600s and 2 pairs of their new 980 fresh foam. I just have to tell you, the 980 fresh foam may turn out to be my favourite shoe ever. Sure, it isn't as responsive as say the 890 or the 1400, but they are light, super cushioned, and the upper is one par with the comfort level I get when wearing my Altra Instinct 1.5 around the store. And with a 4mm drop I don't get any of the odd jolts from a high stack height that I now get. I got two pairs because I was thinking I would wear one as a trainer and I would use another pair as a recovery shoe because of how soft and cushioned they are.

I decided to run in them last night but to my astonishment, it was snowing yet again! I thought screw it and let's get it over with. Tuesday nights are usually our clinic nights out of the store but only 3 of our runners showed up! I don't blame them; the snow was the type that just kind of really fine powder that just compresses and doesn't melt when cars go over it. It creates a layer of the slickest running surface you don't ever want to run on. And because it was clinic night, I usually try to run with the attendees but with the snow being so slippery and having to brace with every step to slow myself, I found it extremely hard on my groin and hip flexors. I ended up doing about 5 miles there, then just took off and finished another 4 miles at home.

What I am trying to get at is that I will be taking applications for people who want to massage my butt and quads. (PLEASE??? I'll be your friend!)

Day 5: BACK TO THE TRACK GONNA BE WACK!

MILES today: 16.5
Total Miles: 67/500 

500 Mile March- Day 3 (Trackin' dem miles yo)

Sorry folks, this update's a day late. I was dead last night. Like not even wanting to talk to my girlfriend dead (and I'm not one of those guys who does that to people I love). I had my head on my chest by 9, nodding off in front of my TV (I haven't gone to bed at 9 since I was about 7 years old).

The morning started off like any other this winter- cold and dumb. I have had with this (expletive) this (expletive) winter! (Picture me doing my worst Samuel Jackson impersonation a la Snacks on a Plane). It was -17 degrees out there plus some wind! NO WAY!

So I took my run to the indoor 200m track on the University of Guelph Campus.

Down the home stretch in my NB 1400

86 laps. 86 LAPS ON THAT TINY MONSTROSITY! My poor hips. My poor calves. I can't believe I put myself through that torture. I'm not the most mentally strong runner- I get discouraged easily but that's part of what this challenge is about- getting stronger both body and mind.

The run was made a little easier when some of the Speed River Marathoner's stepped on the track to start their workout. One of the many advantages of running in Guelph is that you can randomly bump into an Olympic Marathoner just going out for his daily workout. Eric Gillis and his Speed River compadres Nick Sunseri and John Mason were doing some 1ks... they were going fast and it made me feel sad that I am so slow.

Canadian Olympic Marathoner Eric Gillis doing work on the track.

 

Nick and John rolling on the track

The afternoon/ evening run: hey, guess what? IT WAS COLD AGAIN AT NIGHT! Whoever pissed off the winter gods or whatever, I hope you stub your toe REALLY hard! But got an additional 6 miles in and that's just more money in the bank.

Booyah

 

(how I feel when I finish another day of the challenge) 

Miles today: 17

Miles in the bank: 50.5/500 

***CameronHelps Needs Your Vote***

 Runner's Mark is very involved with a youth program called CameronHelps, a program designed to teach physical activity and a sense of belonging as part of a way of coping with stress and depression. Having dealt with both of these problems in my life, this is very important to me and something that I hold close to my heart. CameronHelps now has the opportunity to win $50,000 grant from MLSE if selected as one of the top 4 causes by popular vote. It would be great if you can go to the MLSE Team Up Fund page and vote for CameronHelps as your favourite charity; that would be spectacular. It will help to further develop youth programs and will immediately have an impact on the hundred of youths already int he program.

500 Mile March- Day 2 (You Think a Little Snow can keep me down?)

We woke up to snow this morning. Now, I like snow as much as the next person; I think it is pretty when it sits on trees but I am so sick and tired of winter oh my god i just want to get a flamethrower and go on a personal vendetta and melt it all foot by foot... sorry. What makes it worse is when you get up before the plows to get your first run in and you are slipping and sliding all over the place.Anyone else feel their hips just start to fail in the snow or is that just me? Well half way through my run I decide to go back home and switch up my shoes for my New Balance MT110 trail shoes and everything was all better after that.

YAY FOR TRAIL SHOES! Although I wish I had the foresight to get the winter versions of the MT110 for this winter... but they were given to me in the summer so I really can't complain.

(Seriously though, trail shoes are essential for running in this crap.)

Now, time for the amazing farce that is the Oscars.


Two days down, 29 to go. What did I get myself into? Tomorrow is a track day. We will see how I feel after that. I bet it will be a lot of feeling sorry for myself.

Rambles End Here-

MILES IN THE BANK:
Today: 14
Total: 33.5/500

500 Mile March- day 1

Day one in the books. It wasnt too bad out too bad out there today. It felt damp and I was chilled. I'm a wimp. Get at me. The worst is coming home, feeling like pizza and a can of the good stuff (dr. Pepper is the nectar of the gods).

I did two runs today. Two boring runs on this gray day. Living at home is great because mama Stevens is making home made lasagna. I dont like lasagna...

Miles in the bank: 19.5 (31.2km)/500

Easy peasy.